Top Seeds Advance to Quarterfinals at Open

Top men's seeds Sean Rosenthal and partner Aaron Wachtfogel advanced to the winner's bracket quarterfinals during Saturday's action in the Manhattan Beach Open.

Rosenthal and Wachtfogel will meet Jeff Nygaard and partner Billy Allen on Sunday in the second men's quarterfinal match.

Having competed in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Rosenthal is the biggest name playing in the Manhattan Beach Open. Notably absent from the tournament was Rosenthal's Olympic teammate and current partner Jake Gibb.

Last year, Rosenthal and Gibb captured the Manhattan Beach crown.  Gibb opted out of this year's event because he said he was unhappy with the tournament's return to what has been described as the "old school" format. 

The biggest change for most players was the return to sideout scoring which allows only the serving team to score points.  Average game times today were near the one-hour mark. Longer courts are back, along with games to 15 points.

Also irked by the return to the traditional format was Olympic Gold Medalist Kerri Walsh. Tournament officials told Patch of her decision to skip this year's tournament. Walsh had expressed her profound disappointment with the tournament in an e-mail to the Manhattan Beach City Council earlier this week, the Associated Press reported.

"It is my strong belief that your decision to return to long outdated rules of the game hurts our fragile sport and takes us in the wrong direction," Walsh wrote. "We love the game of beach volleyball and very much wish to compete in your event; however, we will not do so if your 'old school' decision stands."

Todd Rogers and Phil Dalhausser, the 2008 Olympic champions, who were undefeated on this year's AVP tour, are also absent from this year's open due to a prior commitment to play in an international tournament.

Other top-ranked men's teams to advance to the quarterfinals were John Mayer and Matt Prosser who will face off against Will Strickland and Dana Camacho.

The men's and women's teams that advance to the championship match undefeated will need only one win to capture the title, while the loser's bracket finalists must win twice in order to take first in the double-elimination event.

The notable upset during Saturday's play was the early-round exit of Brad Keenan and Matt Olson who were ranked 7th and 11th on the AVP points list this season.

On the women's side number one seeds Priscilla Lima and Angela Lewis also advanced to the winner's bracket's quarterfinals.  Lewis and Lima will take on Teal Hunkus and Heather Lowe.

Jen Snyder and Tracy Johnson will face Catherine Babcock and her partner Erin Gray in the women's second quarterfinal match.

Loser's bracket play begins at 9 a.m. Sunday, and winner's bracket games will start at 10 a.m.